25 questions · 14 almanac · 0 findings

Entomology and Invertebrate Biology

The study of insects and other invertebrates.

Almanac Reading a Windscreen Like a Field Guide
  • What is 'That Gunk on Your Car,' and what does it let a driver identify?
  • Why does the splatter of a squashed insect actually carry diagnostic information?
  • How can insect distribution across a landscape be inferred from a car's windscreen?
Almanac A New Order, Waiting in a Drawer
  • What physical traits define Mantophasmatodea, the heelwalkers, as a new insect order?
  • How rare is the formal recognition of a new insect order, and when had one last been described before 2002?
Almanac A Locust Watches the Death Star
  • How does a locust detect an imminent collision using only a handful of neurons?
  • Why did Rind and Simmons choose scenes from Star Wars to stimulate the locust's visual system?
Almanac Dog Fleas Jump Higher Than Cat Fleas
  • How did researchers measure and compare the jump heights of dog fleas versus cat fleas?
  • Why does the difference in jump height between dog fleas and cat fleas remain unexplained by their evolutionary relationship to their hosts?
Almanac Dark Horses Look Like Water to Flies
  • How do horseflies use polarised light to locate water, and why does this cue mislead them?
  • Why do dark horses attract more horseflies than white horses?
Almanac The Cave Insect With Swapped Anatomy
  • What is a gynosome, and how does the female Neotrogla use it during mating?
  • Why does mating in Neotrogla last up to seventy hours?
  • How might nutrient-poor cave habitats explain the evolution of reversed genitalia in Neotrogla?
Almanac A Fly's Brief Visit, Detected by Taste
  • What chemical signature does a housefly leave behind after briefly touching a glass of wine?
  • How accurately could trained sommeliers detect that a fly had been in their wine?
  • Could fly pheromone detection be developed into a food-quality biosensor?
Almanac Roaches Also Enlisted in the Navy
  • Why do submarines make such favorable habitats for cockroaches?
  • What special constraints did the Navy face in exterminating roaches inside a sealed submarine?